Thursday, July 21, 2016

When one door closes...

Yesterday morning I defended my doctoral dissertation, Finding Purpose: Identifying Factors that Motivate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Student Engagement at a Two-Year Institution. We're in the middle of a heat wave in Minnesota, and the conference room in old academic building I'd reserved did not have a window or air conditioning. Despite the heat, things went very well. I had a good number of friends in attendance, people I've met throughout my years in academia. I was happy to have my husband there as well. After my presentation, there was time for questions, after which my committee had a closed door discussion. I was then brought back in the room to answer questions from my committee faculty, before being asked to leave the room one last time, to allow the faculty to vote on whether I passed my final PhD exam.

By noon I was no longer a Ph.D. candidate. I started this blog in 2005, shortly before I began what became a ten year stint as a student. A whole lot of shit has happened since then. It's all here if you care to read. Personally, I'm crazy excited to move forward. Completing my Ph.D. is an opportunity to start over. I'm happy, healthy, and I've got a loving home and incredible friends. Today I have a soul filled with sunshine. Peace -Jeffrey A. Anderson, Ph.D.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Greetings Jeff,I've been catching up on your blog, an hour and half while listening to WCBN-FM, very fun how music starts to correspond with a visual image. Been browsing your blog since 2005? It's been along time, but I saved the best for last and see that you're now Dr. Jeff. Congratulations, you worked your ass off. I'm jealous:) Keep posting.Bye for now and cheers!From the American Southwest near the beautiful Pacific Ocean, stay cool and give the bunny a hug for me. Moi!